Hi all. After a thread from last Friday that I was hanging out in and nursing a bad mark from a physical chemistry quiz, I received some inspiration that resulted in me finally making an essentials chart for my favorite genre- that is, psychedelic folk.
I wanted to share it with you all and get some critique on it in case there's any key albums I missed, there's any disagreement as to my classifications, or anything else. I'm looking to improve it as much as I can and helpful criticism is welcomed from experts of the genre. Thanks to the anons in this thread rbt.asia/mu/thread/87547446/#87557021 who introduced me to some cool new albums that seemed particularly representative of the genre.
Also, just a general psychedelic folk thread since my chart is not enough to fully carry a thread.
Attached in this post and the next are some pre-existing charts that directed this final version to make sure I had not missed a previously tabulated 'essential album.' If you are an author of one of these charts- thanks for the music recommendations.
Here are explanations for the sections I have devised in the chart: >The Essentials Self-explanatory- albums that perfectly represent the genre and that are, most importantly, easily-accessible for people looking to introduce themselves to the far-out world of psychedelic folk. I question my inclusion of Goodbye and Hello but, given it is one of my favorite albums and has been cited in an AllMusic review as progressive in defining elements of psychedelia, I have kept it for this first version.
>Instrumental, Acoustic, Raga The albums in this section do not necessarily lack and vocals- ultimately, the vocals are featured only as backing to the psychedelic instrumentation or are not as stylized or as musical as the former(I.e. as in Zarthus which features Basho's voice on every track). Peter Walker is included twice which is not ideal but, given the contents of the two albums, I have excused this. I wanted to make sure that I represented the Indian influences of psychedelic folk and this section received the brunt of it- Shankar, Alford, and Third Ear Band. The Fahey album is not obviously psychedelic but, if you listen closely, you can hear the potential influences that the album had on later output (particularly on Knott's Berry Farm Molly).
>Garage/Hippie Folk Initially, I planned on entitling this section Acid Folk in which I would represent acts such as the Fugs, the Godz, and other related garage acts from the 60s. Unfortunately, this proved difficult as most related acts drifted too closely into punk or psychedelic rock territory of which I could not justify inclusion in a psychedelic folk chart. In the end, I settled on Garage/Hippie Folk as two classifications squarely rooted under acid folk. The albums listed in this section are related by several key features- the influence of LSD or other drugs that seem implicit to the album (I.e. the freak-out sessions of The Godz and the Fugs), the artists themselves (Gary Higgins, Alexander "Skip" Spence, and Dave Bixby in particular), and the cult status of several of these albums released in singularity by their creators until the 2000s-2010s (Gary Higgins, Mark Fry, Simon Finn, Randy Burns, Alexander "Skip" Spence, and Dave Bixby). What began as the weakest of the classifications I had planned quickly turned into one with the most interesting mythos, it seems.
>Freak Folk This one is also pretty self-explanatory and my choices here are not very surprising. Inclusions here are darker or rawer in lyrics, vocals, or instrumentation compared to the rest of the genre of psychedelic folk. Several albums have Christian or esoteric themes. Special mention to Family Jams by The Family (AKA Charles Manson's cult)- it is not a terribly amazing album but the novelty made it worth inclusion under freak folk, in my opinion.
>Sampling of the Genre Everything else. The final column are albums that were made after the 60s/70s that still maintain similar feelings (based on my subjective tastes) to albums included above them in the chart.
I was the other dude who posted my psych folk chart in the last thread. this is honestly one of the best folk charts I've seen, good shit
Brandon Green
I opted to include only authentic 60s/70s psych folk with only 9 modern releases. Vim and Vigour simply does not fit within this chart, I don't think. If we ever re-work the Freak Folk exclusive chart, then we can make some room for it.
Easton Brown
Nice list! I feel like unholy modal rounders or at least Michael Hurley might merit an include, especially considering the earliest records you include. First Songs, maybe.
Dominic Wood
Your chart was pretty cool- I listened to a bunch of the stuff you had listed on it. It didn't make the mark, but the live Tim Buckley album is really good.
Logan Collins
neat chart, lot of my favorites on there
have some recommendations, perhaps could be added or replace some albums on the chart: John Martyn - Inside Out The Holy Modal Rounders - Indian War Whoop Jackie-O Motherfucker - Fig. 5 Aktuala - Aktuala
Nicholas Stewart
lol why are "the essentials" the shitties things on there. no one needs to hear the shitty corporate pop versions of the shit on the rest of the chart. those are the ones you can easily skip and get on to the noncorporate things
Caleb Cooper
oh just noticed Indian War Whoop is already there oop
Ryan Smith
I love your modern choices (Shepherd’s Dog especially is a good include, Brian Deck and Sam Beam are both geniuses) but I’m interested in your reasoning behind these restrictions. I’ll admit I can’t think of many psych folk records after the first wave and before the recent resurgence, but surely there’s some artists that were holding down the fort.
Ah whoops ignore my earlier comment too then
Dominic Fisher
thanks man, glad to see Beautify Junkyards made the chart. such an underrated album
Mason King
When I created the chart, my goal was for it to be used as a tool for people to be easily introduced to the genre- that is, the essentials are the most accessible and corporate poppy of the albums in the chart. For most people going into a new genre, it can be hard to immediately listen to the most abrasive and weirdest things a genre ha to offer. You also hurt my feelings because Sunshine Superman might just be my favorite album on this chart.
Ryan Campbell
>reasoning behind these restrictions My reasoning was to present mainly albums that were formative in the origins of the genre in the 60s and 70s which are completely arbitrary when some modern releases also present things really well.
I want to go back and re-do the freak folk chart because, I think, a lot of more recent psych folk is more 'freakish' in nature than the styles that this chart encompasses. I need to access a more concrete definition of the genre and its subdivisions, before I do this. To me, Vim and Vigour is more freakish (whatever that means) than something that fits in with the sounds of the Summer of Love and hippies dropping acid. It's a bad explanation and I am no musician so I can't communicate anything more thoroughly.
On that note, I think we should go about expanding the freak folk chart and including some albums that got left out in the original or that came out after.
Xavier Torres
good thread, where would you suggest a prog fan start? Only albums I've listened to on your charts are Gryphon and Comus
Try out The Essentials. From a prog background, I'd recommend you to first try out Wonderwall Music and the Orient Express. If those tickle your fancy, delve into the Instrumental, Acoustic, Raga section. Third Ear Band is proggy and either of the Peter Walker albums are great examples of the genre. If you like the sitar and drony elements from The Orient Express or Wonderwall Music (and also some from the later half of Gryphon- Gryphon), then try out the Mirror Image.
For Comus, as one user put it in the previous thread from Friday, there isn't anything truly like Comus. HOWEVER, he said that the Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes album included in the Freak Folk section was the closest thing he has ever heard and I am inclined to agree. Fans of Comus should definitely try it out.
If you give even one or two of these albums a listen and like what you hear, then I imagine you could go through this chart and just pick in a slightly systematic manner to find other stuff you'd like. My personal favorites (not including some of the ones I've already recommended) from the chart are Sunshine Superman, "Second Poem to Karmela", and Cripple Crow (preferably the version including White Reggae Troll).
Luke Murphy
What about the os mutantes self titled? It's probably not the most influential but I'd reckon its one of the best. (If you consider it psych folk and not tropicalia)
So do people generally prefer Mad Cap Laughs to Barrett? I think the former is good, but the latter is transcendent. If I were to make the list, I would include Barrett instead.
Dylan Russell
I'm the creator of the chart and, I've never listened to Barrett. All the research I did while making this chart never introduced me to Barrett, but I'll happily listen to it- thanks for rec.
I'll have to report my findings after giving it a sample. I'm leaning towards not replacing it from my arbitrary 'Essentials' in the chart because its so much lesser known and its, therefore, more accessible. I'm curious what your stance is on the subject- should the essentials for an introduction to a genre chart be accessible or more lofty/unknown?
Cool, didn't realize Barrett was a lesser known album either. Hope you like it.
And yeah I think it makes sense for essentials to be what are considered essentials by consensus rather than what you individually think are the highest quality albums since the purpose of this list is as a strong introduction.
Also did you mistype something? You said Madcap Laughs is lesser known so that makes it more accessible? Don't you mean it is more well known? Also I don't think how well known something is necessarily relates to its accessibility.
Tyler Gonzalez
Yeah, I mistyped- you got what I meant. I equate accessible and well-known as its usually the more accessible stuff that becomes more popular.
Barrett is pretty good so far, but I'm not finding as much psychedelia. It's also more folk rock-y than Madcap. I'll mull over whether it slots into the chart- nonetheless, I like it and appreciate the recommendation.
Does anyone have a chart for just contemporary folk?
Camden Robinson
Is there enough good contemporary folk to fill a chart?
Jaxon Bennett
there are multiple in this thread
Cooper Harris
>psychedelic folk >freak folk >psychedelia >essential folk >untitled folk chart >neo folk >psychedelic folk, free folk, new weird America, new weird Finland How are multiple of these charts of just contemporary folk
Camden White
I guess it depends what your definition of contemporary is. In any case, the essential folk chart has a section for modern releases- it is definitely not up-to-date.
Jayden Green
what does contemporary folk mean to you? the essential folk chart is clearly contemporary folk. so is
